The National Prosecuting Authority will have the final say whether former Gauteng Health MEC Qedani Mahlangu and the former director of the Mental Health Directorate, Dr Makgabo Manamela, should be held responsible for the deaths of nine of the Life Esidimeni patients.
Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, Judge Mmonoa Teffo on Wednesday said these patients had lost their lives due to the negligence of these officials.
While the judge implicated Mahlangu and Manamela as having caused the deaths of the patients through their negligence, it is now up to the NPA to decide whether they should be prosecuted on charges of culpable homicide.
The judge at the start of her judgment commented that Mahlangu “ignored expert advice” that the patients should not be removed to alternative care centres, many of which were not equipped to deal with them.
“She could have saved many lives as she visited the various NGOs and saw that they were not adequately equipped.” Judge Teffo added that Mahlangu proceed to terminate the contract between Life Esidimeni care centre and the department despite warnings from mental healthcare experts and other stakeholders
Judge Teffo said the patients were moved to NGOs which were not equipped to deal with them and had inexperienced staff who could not give proper and adequate care in providing mental healthcare.
The judge added that both Mahlangu and Manamela created the circumstances in which the deaths were inevitable.
“Having heard all the evidence in this inquest, I have come to the conclusion that the deaths of the deceased were due to the negligence of Miss Mahlangu and Dr Manamela,” Judge Teffo said.
The patients - most who died in 2016 - were mostly moved to 27 unlicensed NGOs which, the court was told during the inquest, could not care for them.
In nearly all the deaths - apart from one - where no autopsies were conducted, the judge said she was unable to make a finding. In certain of the other deaths she also could not make findings, although autopsies were performed in some of these cases.
It was only in relation to the deaths in which enough evidence was proved to show negligence on the part of Mahlangu and Manamela that the judge recommended to the NPA that they could be held criminally liable for the deaths.
The inquest into the deaths began virtually on July 18, 2021.
The DA meanwhile welcomed Judge Teffo’s finding that Mahlangu and Manemela were negligent in causing the deaths of nine Life Esidimeni patients.
DA Gauteng health spokesperson Jack Bloom said the findings were a severe indictment that should lead to culpable homicide charges against Mahlangu and Manamela.
“It is a pity that the lack of autopsies for the other Esidimeni deaths precluded a firm negligence finding for the other deaths. Other charges should also be laid against all those who can be identified as causing the suffering of the Esidimeni patients,” Bloom said.
Pretoria News